Sometimes there was nothing better than going out with the girls, Kurt thought. They could all let loose for the evening, enjoy each other's company, have some of the most delicious drinks that Kurt had ever tasted and just have fun.

Kurt grabbed Mercedes' hand and dragged her to the dance floor, one hand still firmly clasping his pina colada. He was having the best time with his girls.

Santana and Rachel were dancing elsewhere and Kurt really hoped that Rachel wasn't serious about the lesbian route because he didn't think that Rachel and Santana would be a good match at all. Plus, they all lived together so the whole 'morning after' thing would just be awkward.

"Stop thinking, boo, just dance!" Mercedes called to him.

Kurt flashed her a smile and nodded, taking a long sip of his drink and continued dancing with her.

When he had arrived in New York, fresh from high school with the biggest dreams in the world, he hadn't ever expected his life to be what it was like. He had dreamt of being a Broadway star but his dreams changed paths and he could not be happier than where he was with Vogue. He had completed an internship under Isabelle when she was working in a different department but she had loved him so much that, when she was promoted, she told Kurt that she wanted him and him alone to be her executive assistant.

Kurt had jumped at the chance. Not only did he get to work for Vogue but he got to be surrounded by fashion every single day and it let him have an amazing wardrobe of his own. The job was hard and it ruled a lot of his life but the perks and the job itself were amazing.

It was his career and he wouldn't change it for the world.

He was twenty-two years old and he was more than ready to start his life as a responsible, working adult.

College had been both amazing and challenging for Kurt. He had had his first proper relationship in his first year of college with a boy named Ashley. They had dated for six months before they realised that they wanted different things. Ashley was a bit of a free spirit and Kurt wanted something a little steadier than someone who didn't want to be tied down to one person.

They had split up and Kurt still saw him occasionally for coffees but Ashley was happy not being tethered to one person and Kurt was glad for him.

His second relationship had been with Shaun, a boy from his History of Fashion class at the end of his freshman year of college. Kurt had thought at the time they could possibly be it but was sorely mistaken when Shaun had locked lips with a freshman girl at a party they had attended together. That relationship had barely lasted a month.

The boy he ended up giving his virginity to, and who was an amazing person, had been Tobias. He wasn't in any of Kurt's classes, or worked at the Vogue offices at all, they had met through Santana at an open mic night that she and Mercedes often attended. Tobias was a musician; he played guitar for a band that were hoping to get their big break.

Kurt fell in love pretty fast and it was safe to say that Tobias did as well. They were inseparable at the best of times and Kurt loved how Tobias made him feel. He would bring him breakfast in bed, take him out on romantic dates and with every moment they spent together, Kurt fell more and more in love.

Almost a year after they had been together, Tobias' band got their big break and after a long discussion, they had decided to break up. It wasn't fair on either of them to stay together when Tobias would be travelling and Kurt didn't want him to feel guilty if he met someone else while he wasn't in New York.

Since then, Kurt had been on a few dates with people and had slept with one other guy but he found himself feeling incredibly guilty afterwards.

After that, and a long talk with Rachel about it, Kurt had decided that sleeping around wasn't for him. He didn't want to have sex with someone just for the sake of it – he wanted it to mean something.

Santana had laughed him off at first, claiming that he didn't need to have feelings to have sex but Kurt was firm in his mindset that he did. He didn't mind if Santana slept with every single female she wanted to but for him, he wanted someone special to share that connection worth. His father's words when he was seventeen still rang clear in his mind: he mattered and he wasn't going to just let anyone be intimate with him.

It didn't stop him from enjoying the company of other men, though.

"Want to dance?" a guy asked, appearing off to Kurt's side.

Kurt flashed him a smile. "Sure," he agreed, throwing Mercedes a wink. She grinned back at him and Kurt let the guy take him by the hand and lead him further into the throng of people so they would have to press close together.

The nameless guy wrapped his arms around Kurt's middle and pulled Kurt flush against him. The guy slipped his hands lower down Kurt's back and Kurt gently guided them back to his waist. Kurt smiled at the guy again and reached up to wind his arms around the guy's shoulders, curling in a little closer.

There was barely enough space for air between them but in that moment, it didn't matter. Kurt could feel the thumping beat of the bass travelling up through the floor, making his entire body tingle.

If he had been feeling bolder, he would have kissed the guy but as the song came to an end, Kurt flashed the guy a smile and untangled himself before heading back to his friends.

"Wow, Kurt, he was smoking hot," Rachel said, fanning herself as Kurt re-joined them at their table.

Kurt grinned. "Yeah, he was," he replied, sipping on Rachel's margarita.

"Aren't you going to tap that?" she asked.

Kurt snorted. "I just wanted to dance," he replied with a shake of his head.

"Such a lost opportunity," Santana added as she picked up Rachel's drink after Kurt and downed the rest of it. She then threw them a wink and headed back onto the dance floor with a random woman in her arms.

The guy that Kurt had just danced with slipped Kurt his number and a cheeky smile before leaving the bar. Kurt pocketed the number and looked up at Rachel's knowing look.

"What?"

"Nothing," Rachel said with a slight shake of her head. "I just want to see you happy and he looked like he could make you happy. Probably several times in one night."

Kurt laughed and got off his bar stool. "Maybe next time," he said. "More drinks?"

Rachel nodded. "Please."

Kurt approached the bar and ordered the four of them another round of drinks, feeling quite happy despite what Rachel seemed to otherwise think.

That night, he and Rachel climbed into his bed and cuddled under the sheets. Rachel's cold feet pressed against Kurt's calf as they settled in together.

Mercedes' boyfriend, Sam, had arrived half way through their night after his shift at work and she had gone back home with him. Santana had left the bar before them with the woman she had been dancing with earlier.

"We're going to find boyfriends soon, aren't we, Kurt?" Rachel asked quietly.

"Of course we are," he replied. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm lonely."

"Thanks," Kurt said dryly.

Rachel swatted at his arm. "You know what I mean."

"Rach, you and Logan broke up three days ago," he pointed out. "You can't be that lonely already."

Rachel pouted. "Some best friend you are," she muttered as she snuggled into his arms, forcing him to hold her.

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly and cuddled her close. "The perfect guy is out for you there somewhere," he said softly. "And his talented or ego won't be bigger than yours, I hope."

"Sing me to sleep," Rachel demanded sleepily.

Kurt nodded against the top of her head and started to sing her a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was a little boy. Half way through, in true Rachel style, she joined him in singing. Eventually, her words grew fewer and far between and she drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Kurt wondered, not for the first time, if he was going to be like this for the rest of his life – cuddling his best friend through a broken heart while he remained all alone.

He shook his head, figuring that was ridiculous.

He'd at least get a dog first.

~*~

"Coffee break?"

Blaine looked up from his laptop to see Tina leaning against his door jam, holding two steaming mugs of coffee. He could smell them from where she stood and he nodded at her, suddenly eager for the caffeine pick up. "Please," he said, saving his document and closing the lid of the laptop.

"How's your day been?"

Some days, that was a loaded question for Blaine. Lately, he had been having more and more sessions with students. Some regular, some new but each of them brought their own problems that Blaine wanted to try and help fix or at least offer solutions for them to fix.

"Long," Blaine replied.

Tina set the mug in front of him and sat in one of the two arm chairs off to the side of his office. He got up and joined her. It was where he liked to sit and chat one-on-one, rather than trying to talk with a desk between them.

Blaine took a long sip of his coffee before putting it on the floor next to his chair as he sat down across from Tina.

She pushed her long black hair over her shoulder and crossed one leg over the other. "Spill," she said.

Tina was the music teacher of the school. She ran the glee club as well, and occasionally Blaine would join them, eager to sing with the students for an afternoon. She was amazingly talented and they had been friends since college – where they had met.

Tina was also one of his best friends. She and her husband, Mike, had helped Blaine through his break up with Dale. They let him get drunk and cry on their shoulders whenever he needed to and Tina had been the one to encourage Blaine to start dating again. Blaine loved her like the sister he never had. She was an amazing person and he was glad he had such a good friends in her and Mike.

"One of my students is struggling with his sexuality," Blaine started. "He's so scared that his dad is going to hate him and I just wish I could protect them all, Tina."

"I know you do," Tina said fondly. "It's what makes you a good counsellor. You relate and they don't see you as some old teacher that's breathing down their necks for their homework."

"Subtle dig about my age there, Tina," Blaine teased.

Tina threw him a wink and took a sip of her coffee.

Blaine sighed and looked down into his mug like it held all of the answers. "I've encouraged him to take his time, to test the waters at home first. The last thing I want to do is tell him to go for it – to tell his dad and for his dad to react badly. I want to keep my students as safe as possible."

"You're doing the right thing," Tina replied. "You know you are."

Blaine nodded. "I know. I just wish this still wasn't an issue. We're in the twenty-first century, gay marriage is legal in half of the country and the other half is slowly coming to realise that they're falling behind the times."

"Come to glee club this afternoon," Tina suggested. "Sing out your worries with the kids. It'll be therapeutic."

Blaine grinned. "I think I will."

Blaine took another sip of his drink and a moment later, someone was knocking on his office door.

"Mr Anderson?"

Blaine looked up. "Come in."

Hayley, one of his regulars, looked between him and Tina.

Tina got up off her chair. "I'll leave you two alone," she said smoothly. "I'll see you in Glee, Blaine."

Blaine nodded and got up to shut the door behind her. "Have a seat, Hayley."

Hayley dumped her backpack by the chair that Tina had just vacated and Blaine sat back down opposite her, letting Hayley spill whatever was on her mind to him. She had a lot of struggles at home and she visited Blaine almost daily. Blaine was glad he could be there for her, if nothing else to be a soundboard for her to vent to for half an hour or more.

Hayley was a bright student and she often reminded Blaine of how much he loved his job. She had progressed so much since she had started having regular sessions with him and Blaine was proud. Before visiting him twice a week, Hayley's grades were C average and with his help, she was getting A's and B's regularly.

Whenever Hayley didn't need to vent, Blaine would help her study, guiding her along to the answers she knew all along but hadn't seen yet.

They talked through Hayley's worries and by the time the bell sounded to end the school day, Hayley was feeling much better. Blaine gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and she left his office with a smile on her face.

Blaine slipped his phone into his pocket and headed to the choir room for Glee club. He sat at the piano and started to play while he waited for the members to all arrive.

Half way through his song, Tina joined him at the bench, immediately picking her place in the song to start playing, singing along with him. Before he realised it, the members of the club had all arrived and were singing along with them.

Tina was right – singing your worries away was therapeutic.

"Mr Anderson, your voice is so dreamy," Ann, one of the members said. He chuckled and thanked her before taking a seat at the back to watch the other members have their turn in the spotlight of the day.

~*~